


i don't love you (i always will)

by CoffeeAndArrows, moonlitprincess



Series: i'll give you everything i am (all my broken heartbeats) [3]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, F/F, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-07
Updated: 2018-11-07
Packaged: 2019-08-20 05:11:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16549547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoffeeAndArrows/pseuds/CoffeeAndArrows, https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlitprincess/pseuds/moonlitprincess
Summary: "Zari seemed to realise soon enough that maybe Sara didn’t know what to say, or that she didn’t have anything to say. Whatever she inferred, her mouth twisted into a sympathetic grimace as she took in Sara’s dishevelled appearance properly, concern morphing into something deeper, brow furrowing as she reached out to curl her hand around Sara’s arm. Sara took a small step back, eyes shifting to the floor so she didn’t have to look Zari in the eyes. She didn’t have the energy to make excuses for her appearance, and even though she knew Zari was the last person who’d care, she couldn’t help but feel like she’d let her down. It made no sense, she knew that somewhere logically in her head. But she wasn’t quite thinking logically right now anyway, and maybe being this much of a disastrous mess was just what had made Ava leave too."ORa fic that fills in one of the blanks of ch 21 ofyou make me smile; amaya and zari come over to comfort sara when she finally breaks about ava.





	i don't love you (i always will)

**Author's Note:**

> surprise! 
> 
> so we'll do the big thank yous for the actually unreal responses we've gotten since last week's update on the ch 22 update for the big fic, but until then, here's a tiny one-shot fill in the blanks scene from ch 21! 
> 
> we have a heap of tiny little fill in the blanks we want to do for this fic and this is the first one we've finally finished, edited and gotten around to posting so here's hoping there's many more to come X
> 
> and if somehow you've wandered into this lil fic wondering what the hell i'm talking about, you've got an absolute monster of a high school au to be read before this fic makes any sense at all so that might be a good idea to read first, just as a suggestion (and no self promo whatsoever obviously) 
> 
> fic title from poison & wine by the civil wars

It felt like hours before Sara heard the knock at the door, opening it immediately, trying to ignore the way her hands were shaking. She knew she looked like a mess, still wearing the hoodie and leggings she’d slept in, hair unbrushed even though by now it was late afternoon. The bags under her eyes felt like a permanent fixture over the last week, but Sara couldn’t even bring herself to care. What was the point? It wasn’t as if her face was the thing that’d pushed Ava away.

 

Or maybe it was. It wasn’t like she’d ever know, not if Ava never spoke to her again.

 

The concerned look on Zari’s face wasn’t a surprise, but still Sara shuddered, clenching her trembling hands into fists and trying desperately to push down her panic, but failing. Zari seemed to freeze for a moment. They didn’t  _ do  _ this - at least not often enough that there was any familiarity in it. Both Zari and Sara were notorious of unhealthily avoiding their emotions, and it occurred to Sara that Zari wasn’t the best person to ask about any of this, that maybe all she was doing was putting them both in an uncomfortable position that neither of them knew what to do with. But before she could try to school her features, give Zari some sort of fake smile that put on a facade of relative  _ okayness _ , Zari stepped into the house and closed the door behind her, leaning back against it and waiting for Sara to speak.

 

She didn’t.

 

Zari seemed to realise this soon enough. Maybe that Sara didn’t know what to say, or that she didn’t  _ have  _ anything to say. Whatever she inferred, her mouth twisted into a sympathetic grimace as she took in Sara’s dishevelled appearance properly, concern morphing into something deeper, brow furrowing as she reached out to curl her hand around Sara’s arm. Sara took a small step back, eyes shifting to the floor so she didn’t have to look Zari in the eyes. She didn’t have the energy to make excuses for her appearance, and even though she knew Zari was the last person who’d care, she couldn’t help but feel like she’d let her down. It made no sense, she knew that somewhere logically in her head. But she wasn’t quite thinking logically right now anyway, and maybe being this much of a disastrous mess was just what had made Ava leave too. 

  
  


“Oh, Sara,” Zari murmured with uncharacteristic softness. She reached out and pulled Sara into a hug, heart twisting painfully in her chest as Sara sagged into her side, almost as if the effort of holding herself up was too much right now. Sara bit her lip as she desperately tried and failed to pull herself back together, instead simply soaking up all the comfort Zari was willing to offer, well past pretending to be okay. It occurred to her that it wasn’t as though Zari hadn’t seen how much of a mess she was already, drunk and heartbroken and a sobbing wreck on the floor at Riley’s birthday party last weekend. There was no point putting up a facade anymore, not in front of Zari. 

 

“I fucked up,” Sara eventually murmured. Zari shook her head, giving Sara one final squeeze before pulling away, keeping both hands on Sara’s arms in a hopeless attempt to ground her, to stop the way she was still trembling.

 

“No you didn’t,” Zari said firmly, sincerely, eyes fixed on Sara’s. “This isn’t your fault.”

 

“But - ”

 

“No,” Zari repeated, more determined this time, sliding her hands softly down Sara’s arms until she found her hands, gripping them tightly. “Look, you and I, we don’t usually do this whole heart to heart emotional conversations thing, so let’s at least go upstairs for this, yeah?”

 

Sara nodded. She wiped her eyes on the back of her hands, pulling herself together enough to lead Zari up the stairs to her room, closing the door behind them and going to sit on the bed. Zari sighed softly, sitting down next to her and leaning back against the headboard. She took Sara’s hand, resting on the sheets between them and traced a gentle pattern across the back of it. It was comforting, almost enough that Sara could close her eyes and lean back against the wall, forgetting about this mess for a moment and letting herself relax. 

 

Almost.

 

They sat there for a few minutes in silence, Sara content just not to be alone, to have someone here to pull her out of her mind, at least for a little while. Zari squeezed her hand again, leaning closer when she felt Sara shiver beside her and grabbing another blanket, spreading it out over their legs. “So,” Zari murmured cautiously, giving Sara’s shoulder a gentle nudge with her own. “Do you want to talk about college?”

 

Sara’s entire body froze. 

 

Zari could see the tears burning in her eyes, could feel the way she trembled, leaning closer so her shoulder pressed into Zari’s side. 

 

Sara wanted to close her eyes, wanted to hide, but couldn’t stop watching Zari out of the corner of her eye, hating that she’d put the concerned, slightly uncertain look on her face.

 

Zari didn’t know what to do. Because she knew what this was really about, where this fear of losing Ava was coming from - Sara had as good as told her at Riley’s party on Sunday, although she probably didn’t remember - but even so, she’d only been part of this friendship group for a few years, and it didn’t feel right to try to talk to Sara about things she didn’t fully understand. Also, feelings weren’t exactly her best area, and she had no clue where to even start - Sara had just seemed like she needed something, someone,  _ anyone _ she could hold onto.

 

Someone who wasn’t just going to leave her.

 

Sara squeezed her hand, as if sensing her uncertainty, and Zari thought for a long moment before asking quietly “Do you want me to text Amaya?”

 

A sheepish, slightly guilty look passed over Sara’s face before she nodded. “Yeah,” she whispered, the single word catching on the lump that had appeared in her throat. Zari opened her mouth to speak, to say something - anything that’d wipe that expression of Sara’s face. They  _ both _ knew Amaya would be better at this, and there wasn’t anything wrong with that, but Zari hated more than anything that Sara seemed to think wanting Amaya reflected badly on their friendship. Hell, even she wanted Amaya right now.

 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to drag everyone into this,” Sara said quietly before Zari had the chance to speak, her breath hitching. 

 

Zari rolled her eyes affectionately. “Stop apologising,” she murmured, shaking her head and squeezing Sara’s hand before pulling out her phone and sent Amaya a quick text. Once done, she set it down on Sara’s bedside table, turning a little to face Sara properly. She wanted to see Sara’s expression, to actually try and talk her best friend down from this awful, self deprecating version of herself that made Zari sick to her stomach. (And okay so maybe Amaya had taught her how to get kind of better at this being vulnerable and open thing, and this was the perfect time to put her teachings in motion.) 

 

Sara shivered. Her fingers moved as though on automatic to her canary necklace, but when she caught on to what she was doing, she immediately dropped her shaking hand back to her lap. Her voice was impossibly small when she whispered “No, Z, I need to apologise. I’m sorry. I  know … I didn’t mean to be such a mess, You deserve so, so much better than a friend like me. Someone who’s not this much of a fucking disaster.”

 

“Hey,” Zari said quickly, almost forcefully. She looked across to meet Sara’s eyes, but found them closed, and her heart twisted slightly at the pained expression on her face. “Don’t you dare go there, Sara. You’re one of my favourite people, and the best friend anyone could wish for. You didn’t drag anyone into this. We’re your  _ friends _ , we’re here because we all love you, and you shouldn’t have to go through this alone.” She smiled slightly as Sara opened her eyes warily, catching Sara’s gaze. “And besides. Amaya tells me that having emotions is good for you.”

 

Sara let out a surprised, tearful laugh - barely there, but genuine - and Zari’s smile widened in response. 

 

“Yeah, she might’ve mentioned that once or twice.” 

 

Sara leaned back, closing her eyes again and resting her head against the wall, sighing shakily when Zari shuffled close enough that their legs were touching just enough to feel like a solid, grounding weight to this right now - just them, no one else, sitting on her bed when the world felt like it was crumbling. Sara knew she looked like she was barely holding it together. She  _ felt _ like she was barely holding it together, but as Zari pulled a blanket up from the bottom of the bed and tossed it over to her, for the first time since Ava pulled away, she actually let herself wonder if maybe that wasn’t always such a bad thing.

  
  
  


Amaya tossed the bag of snacks she was carrying onto the bed before sitting down on Sara’s other side and pulling her into a hug, flashing Zari a grateful smile over the top of her head. Zari shook her head, eyes more concerned than Amaya had ever seen them as Sara wrapped her arms tightly around Amaya’s waist, trembling slightly, and Amaya frowned in response. Zari really hadn’t been kidding when she’d said Sara was the furthest thing from okay, and Amaya couldn’t help but feel responsible.

 

She and Jax should’ve thought that prank through, should’ve realised the consequences of it backfiring before they’d pushed Sara into it, but they hadn’t. They’d been so caught up in the childish, stupid teenage naivety of it all, of the idea that maybe it would push Sara and Ava together. And of course that hadn’t been ill-intended; all Amaya had ever wanted was to see Sara in the happy relationship she deserved, that she hadn’t been in since Nyssa (which now felt like an age ago). But instead, what had resulted was her best friend shaking in her arms, barely holding it together but determined as always to pretend things were okay, right up until she couldn’t pretend any longer. Amaya smoothed down Sara’s hair, holding her for as long as she wanted before letting her pull away, looking fiercely down at her bed covers to avoid both of their eyes.

 

“I brought movies,” Amaya said, easily swerving away from the momentary awkward silence that settled between them all. She scooted onto the bed and adjusted herself next to Sara, letting her curl up against her side, pulling the blankets back up and wrapping one around Sara’s shoulders. “Figured you might not really wanna do a whole lot of talking straight off the bat.”

 

“I appreciate that you know me that well,” mumbled Sara into Amaya’s shoulder, earning a quiet chuckle from both Amaya and Zari. Amaya smiled reassuringly down at her, pulling her closer as Zari climbed off the bed to grab Sara’s laptop, carefully grabbing the USB attached to Amaya’s keychain and inserting into the computer, picking an unfamiliar title in the hopes it would help. 

 

At this point, anything to distract Sara from her clear and unbearable heartbreak would do.

 

* * *

  
  


They probably should’ve thought this through. They  _ definitely  _ should’ve thought this through. Because grabbing a random movie might work for their normal movie nights, but it really wasn’t the best idea right now, not when Sara was barely holding it together, still shaking slightly and leaning a little too heavily into Amaya’s side.

 

Even so, it wasn’t until the trashy high school rom com Zari had put on reached its prom scene that Amaya heard Sara sniff and duck her head down, hair slipping out from behind her ear and hiding her face from view. It hit Zari with a sudden jolt and her stomach lurched. She immediately (and almost violently) threw her hand at the keyboard to pause the movie, her other hand reaching to clasp Sara’s in a silent apology. 

 

Amaya shifted slightly so she was facing Sara and reached out to tuck her hair back behind her ear, something inside of her snapping when Sara looked up to meet her eyes, looking so lost and so heartbroken that her own breath caught in her throat.

 

The worst part was that it was  _ familiar _ . She’d seen this look on Sara’s face before, many years ago. Amaya had promised Sara that things would get better and that she’d do everything she could to make sure she didn’t feel like this again. But then she and Jax had done exactly what they’d promised to spare Sara from, and Amaya knew, logically, that Ava’s reaction had to be about more than just Sara jokingly asking her to prom, but still. She played a part in this, and she’d do anything to take it back.

 

“We don’t have to do this if you’re not ready,” she said quietly, but Sara shook her head and looked away, opening her mouth several times but not managing to force any words out.

 

She was still trembling despite being wrapped in two blankets and Amaya had to resist the urge to pull her into a hug then and there, seeing the expression she knew was on her face reflected straight back at her when she glanced over to Zari. Sara swallowed thickly, raising her fingers up to her neck but then yanking her hand back down and fiddling with the hem of her blanket instead. “I need to talk about it,” she eventually admitted, voice painfully fragile, as though even an ill timed response could break her resolve. “I just - I need a minute.”

 

“We’re not going anywhere Sara,” Amaya murmured softly, giving her shoulder a light, comforting squeeze. “Take as long as you need.”

 

The hand Amaya placed on Sara’s shoulder did little to stop the tremors running through her body, or lessen the grip Sara still had on Zari’s hand, but the grateful look Sara flashed in her direction made Amaya leave it there, rubbing light circles across her back . Sara’s breath shook with the effort she was putting in to keep it even, and Amaya felt this sudden, uncontrollable ache for Sara, knowing before she even looked that Zari had felt it too. All she wanted was to be able to take all of Sara’s hurt away - she was the last person in the world who deserved any of it. 

 

Sara closed her eyes, free hand finding Amaya’s. When she spoke, her voice was layered with a broken desperation she’d been trying to smother all week. “She won’t talk to me. She … she won’t even  _ look  _ at me.”

 

It sounded like the start of a conversation ready to break both Amaya and Zari’s hearts, but Sara didn’t continue until Zari prompted a soft “and?”, her voice so gentle and concerned that it seemed to catch Sara by surprise.

 

She swallowed again, voice thick with unshed tears. “And - and it feels like what happened with Nyssa is happening all over again, and I don’t know how to stop it.”

 

“Sara,” Amaya said softly, rubbing one hand gently across her arm, heart sinking at the way Sara’s voice cracked on her words. “this is  _ not _ what happened with Nyssa. This is nothing like what happened with Nyssa, you hear me?”

 

Sara let out a muffled sob, burying her face in her hands to hide her tears from view. Amaya was right, she knew that, in her heart - this  _ wasn’t _ the same situation, not really. But it  _ felt _ the same. Ava had dropped of the face of the earth, ignoring her calls and texts as if she’d just … gone - and it was all entirely too familiar.

 

They’d been 15 years old and Nyssa’s father, so cruel and uncompromising and disapproving of his daughter’s relationship, had uprooted their family abruptly and taken them across the world, allowing Nyssa only a brief and unsubstantial goodbye to Sara on the way to the airport. Then she was gone, disappeared off the face of the earth for almost a full year before she was able to reach out to Sara and apologise, reassure her that she was okay and that she didn’t have a say in anything that had happened. It had broken Sara down to a shell of the person Amaya had become such close friends with, a hollow version of herself that seemed to have no idea quite how to put one foot in front of the other and make it through a day. 

 

(Neither Amaya or Zari commented that Sara was equating her relationship with Ava to what she had had with Nyssa. It definitely wasn’t the time to bring up whether or not Sara had feelings for Ava, because that much was obvious. And it just made everything  _ worse. _ ) 

 

“Listen to me, Sara,” Amaya almost begged. She waited for Sara to wipe away her tears and look her in the eyes before reaching out, tucking Sara’s hair back behind her ears and brushing one thumb across her cheek, resting her hand against Sara’s jaw almost as if to make sure she didn’t look away. To make sure Sara looked her in the eyes as she spoke, to make sure she understood what she was saying properly, because Amaya knew exactly how much she needed this reassurance. And she wouldn’t put it past Sara to twist what she was saying into something else, something with an entirely different meaning because she  _ knew  _ what kind of person Sara became when she got too far into her own head, the kind of self loathing that seemed to occupy far too much of her thoughts in a day.  Amaya squeezed her wrist gently, repeating in a quiet, but firm voice, “This is  _ not _ the same. I know it might feel like it right now, but it’s not going to stay like this forever. Ava will come around, eventually. I know she will.”

 

Sara shuddered, closing her eyes so she didn’t have to see Amaya’s expression. “You don’t know that.”

 

“I  _ do _ ,” Amaya insisted, brushing away a stray tear, leaning closer to press a gentle kiss to Sara’s forehead. “I do, Sara. I know her and I know you. It’s gonna be okay in the end, it will be.”

  
  


Sara said nothing but let Amaya pull her into a hug, inhaling deeply and trying to remind herself that even if Ava never spoke to her again she still had the legends, had this kind, wonderful, amazing group of friends who’d love and support her, whatever she was going through. She hadn’t even been _ friends  _ with Ava until this year, so it shouldn’t have hurt this much, it was just - 

 

Sara had known she had feelings, sure. But she hadn’t realised just how much space Ava took up in her actual, physical, day to day life until she was suddenly ripped away, leaving an empty void that Sara didn’t think she’d ever be able to fill. 

 

God, that sounded pathetic. 

 

Sara tangled one hand in the back of Amaya’s jacket as she took several deep, shaky breaths, trying her hardest not to cry again. It was just … on top of not having Ava  _ now,  _ she’d have to spend all of her time at college without Ava by her side too. She’d known before she picked Brown that she shouldn’t choose it just for Ava, but … not having Ava around day in and day out had seemed impossible after their inseparability this year, and Brown was a good college, it was relatively close, and she’d be near her friends, and, well - 

 

Yeah. Ava would be there. It sounded so fucking stupid and ridiculous that she was pretty much saying that she  _ couldn’t live without Ava _ , but Sara had been convinced that she couldn’t. (She still kind of was, even now that she’d lost her, three days after she made her decision about going to Brown and before she could even contemplate telling Ava or their friends about her choice.) 

 

And now Ava was basically gone. Gone for a reason Sara didn’t even know and couldn’t hope to understand, over a dare that was supposed to make Ava smile, to make her laugh, to make her duck her head down and tuck her hair behind her ears, heat creeping onto her cheeks as she said ‘ _ yes, of course i’ll come to prom with you, you idiot. _ ’ Sara sucked in a sharp breath, harshly rubbing her eyes. “I can’t do this for four more years,” she said in barely a whisper.

 

Amaya’s hand stilled where it was rubbing her back and she pulled away slightly, expression full of concern. Sara dug her nails into her palm as she braced herself for whatever Amaya would say, knowing she would never start with  _ well, you shouldn’t’ve picked your university just for a girl then, _ but almost expecting it anyway. Amaya blinked in confusion, searching Sara’s face before asking slowly, “What do you mean?”

 

Oh.

 

She didn’t know. Sara had just assumed -

 

She wiped her cheeks, turning to face Zari. “You didn’t tell her?”

 

“No,” Zari answered immediately, letting go of Sara’s hand to squeeze her shoulder. “It wasn’t mine to share.”

 

Sara bit her lip, looking down. For a second, she was overcome with wondering what she did to deserve friends like this. It hadn’t even been intentional. She’d spent so long when she was younger avoiding people like Amaya, people who were sensible and organised and  _ nice _ , because she was used to being exact opposite. And as for Zari - well, she was  _ Zari _ \- she was stubborn and sarcastic and determined and had a heart of gold, always ready to call Sara out on her bullshit, instead of just letting her wallow. Sara didn’t deserve any of them, but Amaya was looking at her like she whatever she was about to say was important, like it mattered, like she  _ cared _ . And God, Sara was tired. Tired of keeping things from her friends, tired of telling them half truths instead of acknowledging how she was feeling, tired of pretending to be okay even when she knew no one believed her.

 

She took a deep breath, praying her voice wouldn’t break as she said “I picked a college. Last week.” 

 

Amaya opened her mouth to speak, as if to congratulate her or ask a question, but Sara shook her head frantically, desperate not to hear whatever was about to come out of Amaya’s mouth. “ _ No _ , ‘mya, it’s not - I - ” She sucked in a panicked breath, hoping neither of them could see the way she was shaking, or hear the way her voice broke (she knew they could) as she continued, “I picked  _ Brown _ . And now it’s too late and I can’t change it and Ava hates me and won’t talk to me and - and I  _ can’t …  _ I can’t take much more of this, let alone  _ years _ of it, and - ”

 

She broke off into a sob, tears streaming down her cheeks as she buried her head against Amaya’s shoulder, clinging onto her with everything she had while Amaya ran one hand through her hair. Sara shuddered and closed her eyes, completely missing the hopeless, slightly lost look Amaya shoot Zari over the top of her head.

  
  


Zari shrugged helplessly, eyes flickering up to the ceiling as she blinked quickly. She and Sara hadn’t been close back when the Nyssa thing had happened, so she hadn’t really been there to witness the great Sara Lance suffer from the absolute brokenness of a shattered heart. Now though. Now, Zari had never felt so unsure in her life. Her eyes drifted back over to Sara, - still falling apart in Amaya’s arms - wondering where exactly everything had gone so, so horribly wrong. Because Zari  _ liked _ Ava. Ava was clever and funny and kind, and she was so, so good for Sara - they could all see it, it was what made this crazy bet the whole damn school had going so perfect; no matter what, they were all gonna win because there was no way they wouldn’t end up together. (Or at least, that  _ had  _ been the case). Somehow, in just a few short months, Ava had persuaded Sara open up, to let herself be vulnerable, to let her friends in. She’d managed to break through Sara’s walls like no one else could;  Sara trusted her more than anyone - and Zari knew Ava would say the same in a heartbeat. 

 

Would’ve said the same.

 

Except now they weren’t talking and Sara was falling apart and Zari  _ knew _ this couldn’t be easy for Ava either but it just didn’t make  _ sense,  _ and part of her was just so, so angry at Ava for it, even though it wasn’t fair. None of it was fair. Ava clearly had a lot going on, but Sara didn’t deserve this, especially not after the year she’d had.

 

And God, neither did Ava. 

 

Zari was on Sara’s side, no matter what, but over the past few months especially, Ava had become someone Zari had trusted unconditionally, almost as much as she trusted Sara and Amaya. Ava had understood what Zari had been going through with Behrad more than anybody else and they’d spent so much time messaging about it, being angry at their brothers, their parents, themselves, and somehow devolved into inevitable tangents of other conversations that made Zari realise all the things that Sara liked so much about Ava’s personality. She wasn’t just the stuck up, by-the-book, frustrating know it all that Zari had remembered from when she first moved to the Star City. She had a wry sense of humour, was fierce and unflinchingly determined, motivated and headstrong, unbelievably intelligent and such a good fit for not just Sara but the legends overall. Zari had found herself almost regretting how long it had taken for them to become friends, especially with only a few months left before they all split for college. 

 

But now it was as though any chance to make the most of these waning moments of senior year had evaporated. Because Zari hadn’t spoken to Ava since the dare and beneath her anger and confusion and fierce protectiveness for Sara, she just wished she could have the chance to ask Ava  _ why.  _

 

To ask whether whatever hurt she’d felt over the prom dare was worth not only losing Sara, but the rest of the legends as well.

 

Sara shifted slightly, not moving away from Amaya’s side but eventually asking in a quiet, barely there voice “Can we just watch another movie?”

 

Amaya’s expression softened as she ran her fingers through Sara’s hair, untangling the knots as she went. “If that’s what you want to do,” she said, and Sara nodded wordlessly in response, looking over to Zari almost as if to check that was okay.

 

“Monsters University?” Zari suggested before she could stop herself, immediately receiving a glare from Amaya. She looked away, squeezing Sara’s hand. “Sorry, that wasn’t funny.”

 

Sara snorted into Amaya’s shoulder, wiping her eyes on her sleeve and looking away, a small, barely there smile creeping onto her face. “It was a little funny,” she promised, sending Zari a half-glare that had no heat at all. Amaya smiled softly, leaning back against Sara’s pillows and pulling the blanket back up around Sara’s shoulders as Sara seemed to soften and relax just slightly between them. Zari watched them both with a fond smile for a moment before moving to open a different film, - this time with a title she knew was safe - waiting for it to fully open before pressing play and settling back down on the bed, curling up on Sara’s other side and resting her hand on the bed between them, just in case Sara wanted to take it.

  
  
  


None of them quite knew how things could unfold over the weeks to come. Maybe things would work out with Ava, maybe they wouldn’t Maybe they’d get worse, if that was even possible. But as Sara’s shaking seemed to stop, as her body relaxed and she actually began tugging at Amaya’s snacks lain out before them, she whispered the softest of “ _ Thank you _ ”s into the air between them and both Zari and Amaya couldn’t help but think that if there was anyone in the world that could bounce back from this kind of heartbreak, it was almost definitely Sara Lance.

  
  


(Hopefully.)

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> we apologise for the extra pain (as though chapter 21 wasn't enough lol) 
> 
> don't worry, not long now til chapter 22 and we promise, the angst is worth it in the end. please give us some love for this lil one-shot, maybe just maybe we'll write some more as some more thank yous! which!! speaking of!! if you guys have prompts for this universe, specific one-shots / fill in the blanks from earlier in the fic that you do want us to write, feel free to comment them, flick us a tumblr ask (lenalvthor / legolasunderstoodthatreference) or @ me on my newly created twitter (@saraalcnce) + yell at rachel to get one 
> 
> regardless though, prepare yourselves for a beast of an author's note next chapter bc like. we are overwhelmed you guys. seriously in shock at the amount of love we've felt over the past 6 days and we are just so so grateful.


End file.
